An Evening in Paris ... er New York

As I leave for Chicago tomorrow afternoon, I know I will have a really good time. However, I'm also aware that I will not have the kind of experiences that are unique to New York City. So before I forget the little events of this evening, I want to create one more posting.

I’ve been craving an aalu anda (potatoes and egg) kati roll since last night, when I was too tired to walk to 46th and 6th, about a 10 minute hike from my apartment. Since I still hadn't lost the craving, I decided that I must have it for dinner tonight. Except that when I got to the vendor he was making the last of the two rolls from the ‘wraps’ that he had left. I was in half a mind to try and talk the white boy who was waiting for them to be ready, out of eating at least one. But that would have been too crazy.

After much pondering I reluctantly decided to get a biryani. Just then another Indian dude showed up. I asked him if he was looking for kati rolls, which he said he was. “They’re all out,” I said making a sad face. I don’t know if he was making fun of me but he also made a sad face in return.

The biryani was enough to feed three people of my size and I felt bad that it would go to waste since I would be leaving before lunch the next day and wouldn’t be back for a week. It was an extremely humid night. I began walking three blocks to get to the fountains where it would be cooler and more conducive to making my dinner more enjoyable. As I began eating, a normal looking, decently dressed young man came up to me and asked if I could spare a dollar. I asked him what he needed it for and he responded that he was hungry. He spoke very broken English and from his accent it seemed like he was from Russia. Probably living illegally in the city and not able to find a job.

A dollar wasn't going to do him much good so I told him that I’d be happy to share my dinner, the prospect of which seemed to genuinely please him. I motioned for him to sit down while I finished about a third of the rice. I was really glad that the food I had just bought wasn’t going to go to waste and what better use could I have for it than to feed a hungry person. There was an extra fork and napkins and as I handed over the container to him, he gave me a smile of appreciation and a thank you in return. Someone had for sure heard my concern about waste.

It was just 9 pm. I decided not to return to the apartment right away and walk around for a while, soaking out some of the humidity!

I’m convinced that I have ‘Mr. Nice Guy’ written all over my face. While I was whiling away my time two individuals came and asked me for directions and a couple on 54th street wanted me to take their picture. I could seriously make a fortune if I charged a buck for each time I gave directions and took pictures of tourists. I’m really not complaining. On the contrary it actually makes me feel good because I figure that I must look like I belong here.

Finally when I was two blocks away from 'home', I saw the same Indian kati roll customer coming towards me. We waved at each other as I marveled at the chances of crossing paths with the same person among hundreds and hundreds on the streets that I had just been walking.

Time for me to take a shower and prepare to go to bed at a reasonable hour. The rhyming there was completely unintentional!. Tomorrow is another day and I have a flight to catch. Chicago, here I come!